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P U N J A B | ![]() |
![]() Saturday, July 24, 1999 |
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Evaluation
process quickened Traffic cop foils armed robbery |
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Aliwal
allotted Ludhiana seat Where they cherish patriotism "Choe" water enters
houses PCCTU threatens agitation Registration of cases resented New CRPF officers meet Punjab DGP MC to file case against dairies Pankaj Udhas sings for Kargil fund Tandon to attend SAARC workshop Kar sewa for mental
hospital Plea to punish DSGPC chief Dal (A) plans to contest 5 seats |
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Gold, silver jewellery for NDF CHANDIGARH, July 23 The union government has expedited the process of evaluating gold and silver jewellery donated by the people for the National Defence Fund (NDF). Informed sources said the gold, silver and jewellery was in the custody of the Reserve Bank of India. After the war of 1962, 1965 and 1971 a large number of people in the country had liberally donated gold, silver and other jewellery for the rehabilitation of the defence personnel and their families. After war against China in 1962, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had made an appeal to the countrymen to extend help to the defence forces in cash and kind. People of Punjab had reportedly given golden jewellery equal to the weight of Nehru for the NDF. The Prime Minister, Mr A B Vajpayee, has directed the Department of Economic Affairs in the union government to expedite the process of evaluation so that gold and silver jewellery could be disposed of at the earliest and its proceeds could be deposited in the NDF. Informed sources said the Department of Economic Affairs had set up a committee for evaluation in March, 1998, which now has been told by Mr Vajpayee to expedite its report in this connection. The issue of gold and silver jewellery was discussed at a recently held meeting of executive committee of the National Defence Fund presided over by Mr Vajpayee. Those who were present at the meeting included Mr L.K. Advani, Home Minister; Mr Yaswant Sinha, Finance Minister; and Mr George Fernandes, Defence Minister. An amount of Rs 5 crore was sanctioned for the Punjab border belt from where a large number of people were displaced following the Kargil crisis. Because of fear of war people in Punjab's border belt had moved to safer places, and now they had started returning to their villages. Punjab would get money from the NDF. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Badal, had made an appeal to the members of the committee to extend financial help for displaced persons in Punjab's border. The committee also approved financial help for the civilians affected by action in the Kargil sector and Jammu region. As part of package for affected by action, the committee approved medical facilities, drinking water, permanent shelters for those shifting from the areas which received artillery fire from Pakistan. The committee has approved Rs 2 crore for civilians displaced in the Kargil sector and an identical amount for those affected in the Jammu region apart from giving Rs 6 crore as financial help for other approved items. The committee has forwarded to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) the request of the Jammu and Kashmir Government to construct 25,000 bunkers in the border belt of J and K for civilians during shelling from Pakistan. The shelling has become a common feature, and most of the time civilians were hit by such shelling by Pakistan's army. The committee has asked the MoD to examine the J and K Government's request. It has asked for Rs 37.05 crore for constructing bunkers. The J and K Government's request for financial help for the Police Welfare Fund and security related matters has also been forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Prime Minister has directed the authorities concerned in the MoD to identify and enlist all those military personnel who were wounded while controlling insurgency in certain areas of the country. It was reported to the Prime Minister that no adequate help had been extended to such defence personnel since 1947. All such personnel will be identified and enlisted from the year 1947, it is learnt. The MoD has been asked to set up limb centres at Chandimandir, Lucknow, Guwahati and Bangalore. Artificial limbs for defence personnel requiring the same will be made at these centres. Apart from this, the Prime Minister has also instructed it to provide aids like wheel chairs, tri-cycles or other suitable motorised vehicles to make mobile the injured defence personnel. Meanwhile, the executive
committee has approved Rs 6 lakh as ex-gratia for 100 per
cent disabled soldiers, Rs 4 lakh for 50 per cent
disabled soldiers, Rs 2.5 lakh for 20 per cent to 50 per
cent disabled persons. The ex-gratia for dwelling units
will be Rs 5 lakh. There will be a fixed deposit for Rs 2
lakh for the education of their children. Lumpsum
financial assistance will also be extended to parents of
such soldiers. |
Traffic cop foils armed robbery JALANDHAR, July 23 In a lucky break a traffic policeman here foiled a robbery and arrested one of the two armed-robbers who held up a female employee of a PCO at gun-point and recovered one pistol and gold ornaments looted by the duo from him. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said here today that two gun-toting youths barged into a PCO situated near Tagore Hospital on Wednesday night and ordered Ms Mala, a resident of Ram Rattan Colony, Rayya, and an employee at the PCO to hand over its cash and the gold ornaments she was wearing. The girl handed over Rs 1,000 in cash from the cash box, her wrist watch, three pairs of gold ear-rings and a gold ring she was wearing and even an imitation-gold bangle. By a stroke of luck a traffic policeman came to the PCO to make a call even as the robbery was on, unnerving the robbers, who fled the booth on seeing him approach. Simultaneously the girl raised the alarm. Showing excellent reflexes the policeman rushed back out and pursued the two robbers. While one of the duo managed to slip away the other headed off towards Patel Chowk and straight into a police naka. Cornered the robber opened fire with a country made pistol but missed. Finding his escape route
blocked he then entered the offices of American Transport
Co. at Patel Chowk and made his way to the roof of the
building. From here he jumped to another rooftop and into
the arms of waiting policemen. He has been identified as
Kuldip Singh a resident of Battu Chak, PS Kathu Nangal,
Amritsar. |
Spate of thefts has residents
worried BATHINDA, July 23 Mr Jatinder Kumar, an employee of National Medical Agency was assaulted and robbed of Rs 45,000 by an unidentified assailant while going to deposit the money in a bank on Mall Road, here, this morning. The assailant hit him on the head with a pistol-like object when he was going up the stairs of the bank and fled with the bag containing the money. The incident took place in broad daylight and just 200 metres from the city kotwali. Rs 50,000 was stolen around a week earlier from the dicky of scooter of a building contractor in front of the Red Cross market. In another incident of assault 15 youths entered a house in the Gandhi Street in the heart of city at around 10.30 p.m. around 10 days ago and injured its owner. The cases of assaults and a spate of recent thefts in the past fortnight has caused concern. One victim, Prem Bhatia, a retired employee of the Punjab Government residing in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar told TNS that he and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom on the night of July 20 when thieves broke in after cutting the iron netting on the outside door and stole Rs 17,000 in cash, two ladies wrist watches and some silver coins. Police sources said thefts had also been reported in the houses of Dr S.K. Raj Kumar, Yashpal Sharma, Phalel Singh, Beant Singh of the same locality. Mr Surinder Kapoor, former Minister and a senior Congress leader demanded that police step up vigilance. Mr Harnek Singh Sran,
SSP, Bathinda when contacted on the phone said today's
robbery was being investigated. Regarding the spate of
thefts, he said patrolling had been intensified in
vulnerable areas. 10 police officials and 40 constables
have been summoned from other towns for this purpose. |
Aliwal allotted Ludhiana seat LUDHIANA, July 23 Mr Amrik Singh Aliwal, President of the Youth Akali Dal can now breath easy. After some initial hesitation, the SAD leadership has announced its decision to put up Mr Aliwal for the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency scheduled to go the polls on September 4. Mr Aliwal has won from Ludhiana in two consecutive elections held in 1996 and 1998 and had, therefore, been hoping for an automatic renomination by the Akali leadership. But there were reports from Chandigarh, though later denied, that the party leadership was looking for a "stronger" candidate to replace Mr Aliwal in Ludhiana.Therefore, his name did not figure in the first list of SAD candidates announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on Wednesday. This is not the first time Mr Aliwal missed being included in the first list of candidates announced by the SAD leadership for different Lok Sabha seats in the state. This is the fourth election Mr Aliwal would be fighting for the Lok Sabha and on each occasion, he secured the party ticket at the last moment after nail-biting suspense. Mr Aliwals relations with the powers that be in Chandigarh and the SAD have been troubled. At one stage, he was removed from the presidentship of the Youth Akali Dal. Later, the Youth Akali Dal itself was dissolved. He regained his position only after the Badal-Tohra differences intensified, leading to a split in the SAD. "I dont know why it has always been like this", says Mr Aliwal. "I am second to none as regards my contacts in the constituency, my devotion to the development of the constituency, my record in Parliament and my accessibility to my constituents". He fought his first Lok Sabha poll in 1991 when militancy was at its height in Punjab and Mr Subodh Kant Sahay, then Union Minister of State for Home Affairs was his main rival in the constituency. The election was called off barely 24 hours before the commencement of the polling. In 1996, he was allotted the ticket at the last minute because of intra-party wraglings and opposition from the group led by the then SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra. It was the same story in 1998. He secured the party nomination in the teeth of stiff opposition from Mr Tohra and his supporters. This time, the opposition was from within the Badal camp. In 1996, he won by 72,500 votes defeating among others Mrs Jaswant Kaur (Congress), widow of the late Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Beant Singh. In the poll held last year, he won by a margin of about 11,500 votes defeating Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib of the Congress and a few others. This time around, the situation is much different from the last two elections. The SAD has split with Mr Tohra setting up his own AISAD. The Ludhiana parliamentary constituency has nine Assembly segments. All but one of them were held by the Akalis and its coalition partner, the BJP. One seat (Ludhiana North) which was won by the Congress has now fallen vacant following the unseating of the sitting MLA, Mr Rakesh Pande. With the split in the Akali Dal, three of the assembly segments namely Dakha (Mr Bikramjit Singh Khalsa), Ludhiana-Rural (Mr Hira Singh Gabria) and Ludhiana-West (Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal), have gone over to the side of the AISAD. The remaining four namely, Payal (Mr Sadhu Singh), Jagraon (Mr Bhag Singh Malhi), Kum Kalan (Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal) and Kila Raipur (Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha) are still with the SAD. The lone BJP MLA, Mr Satpal Gosain, who represents the ninth Assembly segment of Ludhiana East is also firmly with the SAD. Mr Aliwal is trying to put up a brave face even after this fundamental change in the composition of his support base in the constituency. "The exit of the Tohra camp does not worry me. They have always been opposed to me. Earlier the opposition was covert. Now it will be overt. I can handle it," he says. Mr Aliwals
supporters say that he has always fought and won the
election without much support from either Mr Badal or Mr
Tohra. "Mr Badal tended to get bogged down in
Faridkot in support of his son while Mr Tohra
concentrated on ensuring the success of his protege, Mr
Prem Singh Chandumajra, in Patiala. Mr Aliwal will strive
to win the poll once again under his own steam",
they assert. |
Where they cherish patriotism FEROZEPORE: People of this economically backward border district of Punjab are contributing liberally to the Punjab War Heroes Family Welfare Fund to help the kin of those soldiers who did the supreme sacrifice fighting enemies in the Kargil sector. Those office of the local Subdivisional Magistrate organised a function to collect contributions at the Town Hall on July 17. It was attended, among others, by farmers. The who had gathered on the occasion handed over their respective demand draft for the fund to the Minister of State for Sainik Welfare, Punjab, Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, who was the chief guest of the function. Those who contributed to the fund say their contributions are negligible as compared to the supreme sacrifice of soldiers. By their meagre contribution they have simply tried to perform their duty towards their country. Mr D.P.S. Kharbanda, SDM, says people of the local subdivision were motivated to contributing to the fund. No one was compelled, he add, saying that people have set an example of their patriotism. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Gurdev Singh Sidhu, says the economic condition of the inhabitants along the Indo-Pak border, is not good as they did not have good crops due to floods in the past three to four years. They have contributed generously to the fund is a matter of pride, he says. It maybe recalled that a similar type of function was held at Zira on July 16. A sum of Rs 1.15 lakh were collected on the occasion. The Zira SDM, Mr Bakhtawar Singh, handed over this amount to the DC for sending the same to the Punjab War Heroes Welfare Fund. The SDMs in other
subdivisions of the district are also making efforts to
collect money for the fund. Thus, a good amount will be
collected for the welfare of the families of the Kargil
martyrs from this backward district. |
"Choe" water enters houses PATIALA, July 23 A small "choe" carrying rain water of three villages has become a source of fear for residents of nearly 100 houses of Hira Bagh Colony situated near Badi Nadi here. The "choe" bringing rain-water from Asarpur, Nurpur and Chauri villages and passing through the colony has overflown many places. Water has entered into nearly 10 houses. Boundary walls of few other houses have collapsed. A visit to the site revealed that water was still accumulating. The "choe" is infested with wild vegetation. According to Mrs Baljit Kaur Akalgarh, a resident, the colony faced floods every year but the administration had done nothing to put an end to it. Another resident, Mrs Manjit Kaur, said during rain it became impossible for them to move out as the streets were inundated with flood water. While the Deputy
Commissioner could not be contacted, inquiries revealed
that residents too have to share some of the blame. Due
to haphazard constructions, the "choe" has been
"encroached" upon. Earlier, it used to fell
straight into the river but now its smooth flow had been
blocked at various places. |
PCCTU threatens agitation JALANDHAR, July 23 The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) has condemned the "unlawful and irresponsible" attitude of the Punjab police. Prof Jaspal Singh Randhawa, president of the district unit of the PCCTU, said here yesterday that the teachers of non-government affiliated colleges of Amritsar district held a rally yesterday, but the Punjab police personnel disturbed the rally and misbehaved with teachers. He said if the Punjab
Government did not take the necessary action against the
guilty, the teachers of all colleges of the state would
be forced to launch a stir. |
Registration of cases resented PATIALA, July 23 The Free Thinkers Forum of Punjabi University today expressed anguish over the cases registered against some serving and retired faculty members for duties assigned to them by former Vice-Chancellor J.S. Puar as per rules during the 83rd Indian Science Congress held in January, 1996. Forum convener B.S. Sandhu and chairman B.S. Mangat said as the teachers being implicated were academicians of high status and they were willing to cooperate with the inquiry there was no need for filing an FIR against them. The forum members apprehended that such an action would lead to a situation in which no teacher would be willing to undertake any additional financial and administrative responsibility. The forum appealed to
the Chancellor and the Punjab Government to intervene to
save the dignity and honour of the teachers and the
university. |
New CRPF officers meet
Punjab DGP CHANDIGARH, July 23 A group of 15 newly appointed gazetted officers of 30th batch of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) here today called on the Punjab DGP, Mr Sarabjit Singh, in his office. The DGP addressing them said they should be sincere to their duty. He also talked about the challenges facing them in their career while performing their duty at various levels. These officers will be
deployed as Assistant Commandants of the CRPF battalions
on the completion of their training. |
MC to file case against
dairies AMRITSAR, July 23 The local municipal corporation has decided to give Rs 50,000 as compensation to the parents of three-year-old Bhupesh Arora, who died by falling down an open manhole here. The Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Mr Subhash Sharma, has also asked the Commissioner of the Corporation to lodge an FIR against the dairy owners responsible for removing the manholes cover. This is the second such incident in the state. The Vice-Principal of a school had died after falling down a manhole in Ludhiana recently. Bhupesh Arora fell down an open manhole on Wednesday, when he was going out with his mother. The birthday of Bhupesh falls on July 27. According to the Mayor, dairy owners remove the manhole covers for flushing down cow dung quickly. The Punjab and Haryana
High Court had directed the local administration to shift
out dairies from within the periphery of the city, but
the move was blocked for political reasons. |
Pankaj Udhas sings for Kargil
fund LUDHIANA, July 23 The Indian Army's victory in Kargil is historic as it has been achieved by valiant soldiers fighting against the odds in one of the highest mountain theatres in the world, said the Punjab Governor, Lt-Gen (Retd) B.K.N. Chhibber, while addressing a function on the occasion of the "Pankaj Udhas Nite" here last night. The Governor said that the war had infused a spirit of patriotism, unity and solidarity amongst the people. On this occasion, a cheque of Rs 4.31 lakh as the proceeds from the nite, was presented to the Governor towards the Chief Minister's Kargil Martyrs Families Welfare Fund. On the occasion Mr Ashok
Oswal presented a cheque of Rs 51000/- contributed by the
Oswal Group towards Kargil War Heroes' Families Welfare
Fund. |
Tandon to attend SAARC workshop CHANDIGARH, July 23 The Punjab Local Government, Labour and Employment Minister, Mr Balramji Das Tandon, will represent India at a three-day regional workshop on urban governance in for SAARC countries namely, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Indian delegation consists of senior government officials and experts from national level institutions working in the field of urban affairs. The workshop, starting from July 25 in Kathmandu, has been sponsored by the regional urban development office of South Asia of the United State Agency for the International Development (USAID). It is being organised by
the Times Research Foundation, Calcutta. |
Kar sewa for mental
hospital AMRITSAR, July 23 Expressing his deep sense of anguish and disgust over inhuman condition of the inmates of Dr Vidya Sagar Mental Hospital here as reported in The Tribune. The chairman of the Citizens Forum, Mr Brij Bedi, today made a fervent appeal to countrymen to raise funds through 'kar sewa' to take care of mentally ill patients whom the government and society had abandoned. Mr Bedi questioned the wisdom of the state government in letting the mental hospital go down the drain in spite of various adverse reports appearing in the press and having been sent to the authorities concerned. Mr Bedi said while
religious, social and voluntary organisations organise
"kar sewa" for various temples, gurdwaras and
other places they should come forward to undertake a
similar to help these forgotten humans a more meaningful
life. |
Plea to punish DSGPC chief CHANDIGARH, July 23 Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar and four other SGPC members have appealed to the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Puran Singh, to summon Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, President, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, at Akal Takht and punish him as per the Sikh traditions. Mr Badungar and others said Mr Sarna was playing into the hands of anti-Sikh forces and trying to weaken the institution of Akal Takht by making damaging statements. They appreciated the
move by Giani Puran Singh to resolve the World Sikh
Council dispute. |
Dal (A) plans to contest 5
seats SANGRUR, July 23 The Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by Mr Simranjit Singh Mann has decided to contest from five parliamentary seats in Punjab during the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. These seats are Sangrur, Patiala, Ropar, Ferozepore and Phillaur. Disclosing this here today, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann ruled out any truck with the CPM. Referring to the Janata
Dal split at the national-level, Mr Mann stressed that
the faction led by Mr Sharad Yadav, which is going to
have an alliance with the national democratic alliance
led by the BJP, was communal and added that his party
would have an electoral alliance with the faction led by
the former Prime Minister, Mr Deve Gowda. |
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